Coors Light is giving up 6-pack plastic rings to lighten its load, equivalent to 2500 kegs of beer, on marine life.
Coors Light has announced a phase-out of plastic rings on their six-packs. America’s best-selling beer brand plans to shift to 100% recyclable cardboard wraps by 2025 with the support of an $85 million investment from Molson Coors (parent company).
Molson Coors is the second largest brewery company in the United States and the fifth largest worldwide. The brewery's mission to go greener began in 2021 when it eliminated plastic rings for all its well-known brands across the UK market—replacing them with recyclable cardboard sleeves instead. Canada's more environmentally friendly plastic rings followed this effort the same year. Molsen's has pledged to do away with plastic rings as their latest sustainable packaging initiative.
Image Source: Coors Light
"We believe that buying beer shouldn't entail buying plastic," the vice president of marketing for the Coors family of brands, Marcelo Pascoa, told Food & Wine. He also explained the plan to prevent 400,000 pounds of single-use plastic waste (annually) through their sustainable packaging initiatives.
Molson Coors 2016–2025 Sustainability Target
Packaging Goals
- 100% percent recyclable, compostable, or reusable packaging.
- All plastic packaging will contain at least 30 percent recycled material.
- Replace all plastic rings with a brand-new 100% recyclable six-pack.
- Be the largest plastic-free packaging beer brand in North America.
- Achieve the 2022 packaging transition by the end of 2025.
Water Goals
- Use 10% less water to grow Coors barley.
- Use 22% less water for beer brewing.
- Restore 3.5 billion gallons of water and increase watershed availability.
Climate Goals
- Cut down CO2 emissions by 50% in direct operations.
- Cut down CO2 emissions by 20% across the supply chain network.
Environmental organizations have long condemned plastic accessories in commercial items, saying that they endanger wildlife and pollute the environment. Experts also predict more plastic will be in the oceans than fish by 2050. If we look at the stats, plastic pollution has grown massively since the 1970s. Approximately 10 million pounds of plastic enter the world's oceans every year, killing nearly 1 million marine species.
The international uproar against plastic is absolute. As core contributors to plastic pollution, there is an urgency for businesses to start making changes. Embracing new strategies to reduce single-use plastics, make packaging more sustainable, and focus on more effective recycling.
Molson Coors' latest decision reflects how important sustainability is to companies who are looking ahead to the future.
Echoing Gavin Hattersley, Chief Executive Officer at Molson Coors Beverage Company, "At Molson Coors, we are committed to supporting our people and the planet in ways that are responsible and sustainable for the long-term."
According to CNN, the new Coors Light cardboard alternative is well accepted and used in many countries. The company will start sustainable packaging for its 30 brands over the next three years, including Blue Moon and Miller Light.
Coors Light has joined fellow brewers like Corona and Carlsberg by adopting innovative, sustainable packaging to eliminate plastic waste from the company and the planet.
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